Internal border controls between Schengen Member States
22.11.2017
Question for written answer E-007171-17
to the Commission
Rule 130
Eleftherios Synadinos (NI)
Germany has announced its decision to reintroduce internal border controls, in accordance with Article 25 of the Schengen Borders Code, for reasons of ‘internal security and public policy’. However, according to the German press, this is a political reaction geared at appealing to voters. These border controls also apply to flights exclusively from Greece, though, according to the Commission, ‘the impact on free movement will be small’.[1]
‘Secondary movements’ within the Union and illegal immigration from Turkey to Greece are still an issue, and the main illegal immigration and refugee route through the Balkans now passes through Bulgaria.
This year, approximately 1 000 individuals without a Schengen visa arrived at German airports. No further data per country is available. Nothing indicates that the appropriate controls were not carried out at Greek airports. In the first ten days of November, the Greek authorities arrested approximately 1 800 individuals before they boarded international flights.[2]
The German Government states that the controls focus on individuals whose ‘facial characteristics may indicate that they are immigrants or refugees’.
In view of this, the Commission is asked:
- —Are there data available regarding the number of individuals moving illegally between Schengen Member States by air?
- —Is the Commission considering reintroducing systematic internal border controls?
- —Do the aforementioned controls raise issues of racial discrimination?